2022 Book Review #24: 12 Ways Your Phone is Changing You

 

This is a non-fiction, Christian book but anyone can benefit from it.  However, if you're a Believer and Christ-centered Christian, you will really get something out of this informative and very important book based on a lot of research, Scriptures, and interviews. If you own an iPhone like I do....or any kind of smartphone....I highly recommend you read this. Have your spouse read it.  Have your teen/young adult child(ren) read it.  You will be glad you did!

SUMMARY OF BOOK

The foreword is written by John Piper so it really doesn't get much better than that, does it?  To have John Piper write your foreword!  I had heard of Tony Reinke but had never read anything by him......He's one of the senior writers for the desiringGod.org website and he hosts the extremely popular podcast "Ask Pastor John".

The smartphone/iPhone has become a part of us. It's fully integrated into our daily lives and our daily patterns. We never seem to be offline and it's always within our reach!  It's a tool of technological power and we have only just now begun to grasp this power. Never have we as a people been more connected.....and yet...we seem to be growing more distant. Never have our lives been more efficient...and yet we have never been more distracted. 

This book contains 12 different chapters with each chapter highlighting a way that the smartphone is changing us as people. Some of the changes talked about in each chapter are very good....and most....are not very good at all. In fact, smartphones are taking a toll on our physical health, emotional health, relational/social health, mental health and.....spiritual health. 

The 12 different chapters are as follows:

1. We are addicted to distraction.
2. We ignore our flesh and blood
3. We Crave Immediate Approval
4. We lose our literacy 
5. We Feed on the Produced
6. We Become Like What We "Like"
7. We Get Lonely
8. We Get Comfortable in Secret Vices 
9. We Lose Meaning
10. We Fear Missing Out
11. We Become Harsh To One Another
12. We Lose Our Place in Time

The Conclusion is "Living Smartphone Smart" and has some excellent tips for self and family.

There is an Epilogue as well as a General Index and a Scripture Index.  

MY THOUGHTS

This is a must read for every Christian with a smartphone/iPhone.  Seriously.  I actually bought this for my husband as a Christmas 2021 gift.  He has yet to pick it up.  He is quite addicted to his phone.  Most of his phone time is spent listening to science or science fiction podcasts, Christian writers or Christian comedians or listening to music. Most of my phone time is spent checking work email, playing a word game or strategy game, and using the Bible app for a quick morning devotional with my cousin and a couple of small group friends or by my self.  I sometimes post to Instagram and Facebook via my phone but I usually use my laptop for posting on Facebook and I don't use messenger app at all on my phone. I do use the All Trails app to check weather conditions or road conditions for hiking and I often use the iphone maps program for driving to new to me places. 

But after reading this book, I was very convicted to change up a few things.  First of all, I'm one of the people who reach for the phone first thing in the morning.  At 5:30 the alarm on it goes off....yes I get in the shower, etc but after getting that first mug of coffee I tend to NOT get into the Word first (some days I do but usually no) and I play the solo challenge for the word game....or I do the daily challenge for the strategy game and THEN I spend time reading the mini devotional.  Now, I'm not going to go to hell for this....but setting the tone for the day, as a Believer, I'm becoming convinced means NOT reaching for my phone first thing after the shower.  I'm going to start leaving it on my desk and go down to the deck or family room with out it.  I'm convicted to get back to reading the good ole hardcover Bible again and studying the Scriptures that way.  No, there's nothing wrong with using the Bible app....and I will continue to do so...the book wasn't saying not to.  But time with the Lord is vital and our phones tend to be a distraction rather than a good tool for spiritual disciplines. 

I love that he put a lot of research into this book. He gathered insights from thinkers, other pastors, and published studies along with his own research. The author wants us to cultivate our own wise thinking and healthy habits during this digital age. He encourages us to utilize the many blessings of technology while avoid the various pitfalls.  He encourages us to pursue the most satisfying longing of all:  that of the soul-satisfying glory of Jesus Christ our Savior. 

One thing I discovered  while taking my time reading through this book and reflecting on it, highlighting strategic principles and points, and praying about certain aspects, was that my daughters are not addicted to their phones like my husband and I are!  And my youngest does not know life without the internet!  She was born in 1998 just 5 years after our oldest was born.  When our oldest was born in 1993, we still had dial up internet service (remember that??!).  NO one had a cell phone.  Then when I became pregnant with baby #2 in April of 1998, I received my first cell phone.  Internet was just becoming a thing. I'm not even sure we had WiFI yet in the house. But the youngest......she has always known us to have a mobile phone and she herself was given one when she entered junior high school...just like her big sister did. She has never had to do research for AP classes or college courses via a card catalog or encyclopedia like we did.  She can't imagine life without google.  BUT...both  girls prefer face to face friendships (although our oldest is rather addicted to evening gaming with friends all over the globe and will tell you she ignores her phone to get on to her computer). Our youngest only tends to send texts to friends when needed or she calls me when needed.  She isn't on social media although she does have an instagram account and snap chat but she rarely uses it.  I realized the girls have better control over their phones than the parents do! 

I like that this book included all the good things technology has done for us but also all the bad things.......the consumerism and materialism attitudes is rampant because of constant ads popping up and our news is in small bites vs lengthy discourse. Some of our news has desensitized us to the horrific things because it's so common throughout the day to see those horrific things pop up on our news apps and come across our phone.  We are becoming hardened to the horrors. 

I liked so many pieces of this book that this review would be way too long for me to continue to write about them.  I'll include some quotes that popped out at me but again, these are just a couple that were faves...there were so many good points!

"It is difficult to serve God with our heart, soul, strength and mind when we are diverted and distracted and multi-tasking everything." Historian Bruce Hindmarsh adds, "our spiritual condition today is one of spiritual ADD." (pg 47, 12 Ways Your Phone is Changing You by Tom Reinke c. 2017)

"Those early morning hours are vital for spiritual health and for making progress in the spiritual battles we face every day.  Satan knows it, and he wants to destroy our devotional life, and if he cannot get us to simply ignore the habit, he will distract our thoughts and break them into a thousand vanities." (pg 127)

"Yes, to have smartphones is amazing, but to have the internet on our phones is to also have immediate access to all of the world's major tragedies, sorrows, bombings, and acts of terrorism.  Are we prepared to  carry this burden?" (pg 155)

"We grow emotionally distant with our expressions.....we use our phones to multitask our emotions.  in the age of the smartphone, we are both trying to escape emotion and trying to "plug the need for contact with the drug of perpetual attention" This juxtaposition, by necessity, makes us broadly connected but emotionally shallow." (pg 179) 

This book is excellent at giving us some tips on how to live smartphone smart.  I highly recommend you read it.  If you are feeling spiritually dry or "dead" or struggling with forming and keeping close friendships with face to face conversations or if your marriage is beginning to be dull......it might just be your phone usage at the root cause!  Check out this book.

It took me a few months to read the entire thing because I don't read non-fiction every day and also because I tend to study Christian non-fiction and take notes or highlight and check out the footnotes or Scriptures that were included.  I do highly recommend this for every Christian who owns a mobile phone.

In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 17 and older.

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 10.